Nifty News

Faithful Followers

Monday, June 9, 2008

I guess I'm lucky that my first 5 kids weren't like this, but boy oh boy, does Brooklyn have a stubborn, bratty streak a mile wide! Actually, come to think of it, Austin was like this when he was younger too. I guess I've just blocked it from my mind. When Austin was little, he spent two years wearing the same baseball cap - purple and orange with Tigger on it. He wore it all day, every day, day after day. He wore it to church. He wore it to sleep. He wore it in the bathtub. He melted down if we tried to get him to take it off. In every picture of him, from that time period, there was a hat on his head. I still have that hat (along with the kids' going home from the hospital outfits, blankies and Christening outfits) packed away in a box in my attic.

Anyway, I digress. Brooklyn is a temperamental, stubborn little thing. When we got home after looking at vans tonight, Brooklyn took off her shoes and set them right inside the door. Joe told her, "Put your shoes away."

She screamed, "NO!"

"Yes, Brooklyn. Let's move them away from the door," Joe said amicably as he picked up her shoes.

Brooklyn screamed like he had poured boiling acid on her and grabbed her shoes from him and put them back by the door.

Ok then.

I tried to distract her by cheerfully saying, "Come on, Brooklyn. Let's go get your jammies on!"I think she misunderstood me. She must have thought I said, "I'm going to break both your ankles now" because she screamed, "NOOOO!!!!" as she threw herself on the floor, screaming and crying.

I picked her wailing and squirming little body up off the floor and said, "That's enough Brooklyn. Let's change your diaper and get your jammies on."

She threw herself back in my arms as she tried to wriggle loose from my grip. All the while she's screaming her head off because clearly, having one's diaper changed is a fate worse than death.As I tried to change her diaper, she flipped herself over about a dozen times. I pull open the tapes; she flips over. I flip her back; she screams. I pull her diaper off; she flips over. I flip her back; she cries. I wipe her butt; she flips. I pull her back; she flips again. I pull her back and scoot a new diaper under her butt; she flips back. I turn her over on her back again and fasten one tab; she flips over. I flip her back; she screams.....

I just love changing toddler's diapers.

Because I dared to change her diaper and put her pajamas on, she went into a huge fit of screaming and crying and pulled her pajamas right back off. She looked at me and I swear I heard her say, "That'll show you!" She cried so much that I thought she was going to throw up. Can you imagine getting so worked up putting your pajamas on? I don't know about you, but I'm thrilled when that time of day rolls around and I can put my pajamas on. I personally love sleep!Anyway, I walked away and let her throw her fit. (I was getting far away just in case she actually threw up!)

Eventually, without an audience, she gave up. A switch turned off and she came walking over to me, climbed up next to me on the couch, grabbed my arm, smiled up at me and said, "I love you, Mommy. You're so cute."

112 comments:

CanadianCarrie
said...

Seriously, we call my 3 yr old Dr Jekyll and Mr Owen! How old is Brooklyn? You described daily life with him to a T!! I'm learnng that him crying is better than him getting everything he wants. He's got a mean temper though! Crazy!

You know how they say the "Terrible twos" well my kids were great when they were two( well not angels but not little demons either) but then they hit three and OMG I tell you what something switched in them, so I changed their names then. One was Damien and the other one was Satan lol, I know that is terrible but they just turned.....I cant even think of a word to describe it.So something to look forward too lol.

OMG Dawn I can totally relate!!! My 18 month old SCREAMS and runs when we even mention diaper changing. He does the flip and squirm thing too! Even worse than trying to do this process at home is trying to do it in the store with that filthy changing table the stores "provide" for you. The funniest part is that once he is screaming he wants to cuddle as he screams. He wants to mash his head into your side or legs if you are sitting and get you all wet too! If you push him away its like you have literally broken a bone in his body and he wails in that screaching painful to your ears tone! But.... my little boy is the best toddler in the world ;o)

Our three year old has the same personality as you describe Brooklyn having.... I'm sure with 6 you know all the tricks, but just in case.. What works with her is to distract her with something she likes to do (but not playing) then get her to do what I originally asked. For instance, she loves to fold towels and wash cloths. So since we have a neverending supply of unfolded laundry at our house, I'll say "Why don't we fold towels?" She'll cheerfully start on that and when she's finished, she'll do pretty much anything I ask her. (she is an AWESOME towel folder & sock matcher)

OMG that is hilarious. Totally reminds me of my not-yet-two-year-old. I used to feel guilty for getting irritated when she insists on being unreasonable. When she refuses to understand why she can't keep her shoes on the dining table. Or why she can't eat while she is on her potty.. I feel better that I am not the only one! :)

She's not possessed, she's just heading into the "Terrible Two's". Be prepared, she may just be the one that breaks the camels back! My daughter is still that way and she's 18! Some kids are just intense and very strong willed. Just remember...this too shall pass, or maybe not!

I've had the exact same thing happen with my 3 year old daughter more than once. She gets upset over the least little thing at times - it amazes me! So I let her throw her fit and then she snaps out of it 10 minutes later and is fine. Gotta love the toddler age...

That is a true Mommy moment! My son, would pitch a fit, so badly, that every time we tried to put him in his crib, he cried so hard he actually did puke! Mommy's best friend is definitley her own carpet cleaning machine. I am glad to hear that Miss Brooklyn finally calmed down, and loves her Mommy because she is so cute....

My theory is that when we're out, and expecting good behavior, they bottle it all up. Then, when home and safe, they need to let it out and look (or cause) a trigger which will help release it all.

My wild thing can behave great in public and his preschool teacher thinks he's perfect. Then he gets home and has meltdown after meltdown. I know you know that the pj's aren't really the cause. Our offering of safety is the cause, in a way.

Dear Dawn, I too raised a Brooklyn. She is our baby and the reason I only had 2 children! But....take heart. She is now a beautiful, almost 21 year old women who loves life and loves the Lord. She is fun, funny, full of life, compassionate, loving and caring and honestly, I never, ever, thought we would get here when she was a toddler. As a wise person once said, "The days are long but the years short". Take it from an empty nester and persevere brave one.

The last temper fit I gave my folks at that age....my dad looked at me and said very simply "when you're done let me know." He then turned the tv volume up. And I stopped from there on out. LOL....I guess it wasn't any fun without the attention.

Oh my goodness can I relate to this story! My youngest son, Andrew, who will be 5 next Monday, was (and still is, to some extent) JUST like this! I don't know how many times I've said, as I was standing at the back of church, watching him have a time out in the corner, that one of these days, we were going to get to that "and deliver us from evil" part in The Lord's Prayer, and there was going to be a flash of light, a puff of blue smoke, and we'd all be looking around... "HEY! Where's ANDREW?"

My daughters are 12 & 9 and I still find myself reciting the daycare director's (she has a PHD and has taught all over the world) mantra .... Pick your battles!

Don't get me wrong, I still look at them and wonder if they are drain-bramaged but all-in-all they are good kids and shoes are small stuff. Especially, since i throw everything they leave downstairs in a pile on the landing and make them clear it several times a week. mhuahahaha!

Yay for finding all that stuff, especially the watch , under the couch lining. I had some times with Nicole like what you described with Brooklyn, but it was 9 yrs ago so maybe I've blocked some of them too.

That totally could have happened in my house when my girls were that age. The story would have continued with me saying "Oh I love you too, honey, and you are so cute. Now go put your shoes away!" just to see if the fit would start all over or if what I wanted would get done. Maybe I'm possessed as well. :)

well, i dont have diapers to worry about anymore, but i do have a 4 year old boy who throws a fit or two. he does the same thing. blows up over something silly, get some time in his room until he calms down, then comes back downstairs saying "i'm sorry mommy". sigh. life with children. lol

When they were walking but still very young, they HATED to take a bath. Actually hated doesn't even begin to cover it.

I live in a nice apartment, its a duplex though. One time in the summer time I had all three kids in the tub, (they are all so close in age and all hated it that it was so much easier to get the torture over all at once!) Any ways they were screaming so bad that my neighrbor actually walked in my house and came upstairs to make sure I wasn't murdering them!!!!

How embarrasing! Thankfully after she saw the real deal she cracked up laughing with me and wished me luck!

Oh Boy can I relate! My son (who is also the youngest) is the same way. He just had a similar melt down at church last sunday! All I could do was put him in a room and leave him to calm down. He does this a lot at home lately and no talking to him, trying to calm him down works so I just leave him in his room and sure enough, once it is out of his system, he comes out all sweet! They will grow out of it, right? Good thing they are so darn cute!

I love your blog. I read it daily although I have never left a comment. Your post today about Brooklyn was too funny. I also have a 2 year old and he is exactly the same way, stubborn as can be. Anyway, I mainly wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your blog.

My first child is like that. She's 4 now and they're less frequent, but she can scream for a solid 45 minutes over nothing. The first few times she did it (she started at about 14 months) we would encourage her to go lie on the rug where she would be more comfortable and to let us know when she was done, and now she just goes ahead to the living room. She almost prevented us from having the second one, and certainly from having anymore. You are a much better woman and mom than I am.

Hey Dawn, when my babies were at that horrid age, when it came time to change their diapers I used to sit on the floor with them laying between my legs, and pin their arms with my legs if they played up like that. With their arms pinned down, they can't flip over and they're clean and dry in no time!

I love this story, it could be my own! My 2 yr old does the same thing, something has to be just where he left it, even if he trips on it, it has to stay. Some days (and nights) he is only in his pull-up because he does not want to be dressed.Thanks for all your stories!

I feel your pain! This is how I spend almost every evening with my two year old! Apparently diapers and pajamas are some sort of torture I didn't know about! I've tried everything! Spanking, sitting in time out, talking sweetly and calmly, even bribing with money! Nothing really seems to help, just depends on his mood! He's finally beginning to get a little better, but just as a I was breathing a sigh of relief, my 1-year-old has started too!

As for stopping the tantrum when he runs out of audience, Isaac followed us around the house the other day...room to room throw a tantrum. For 15 minutes every time we left the room, he followed us!

I guess my kids are possessed too, especially my son. I find that after we've forced him to do something (equally as evil as putting on jammies), had to spank or punish in the process and then not 5 minutes later he's lovey dovey and a different child. This after ranting and raving, slamming doors, etc.(him not us). It's like they need that emotional outburst and for us to be there saying regardless of your insanity you will do what I say. Then they love on us for following through-strange kids I say, couldn't he just obey and skip straight to being lovey dovey???? So in my mind, obviously you did handled it right b/c you go the sweetness after the rant!

Oh my gosh! That sounds like my son! My son will be having a major meltdown (for the same horrible reason Brooklyn did, having to put on jammies) and then he'll come and tell me "You're my best friend! I love you so much." From one extreme to the next! Ahh, the joys of parenting!

dawn--i've been a faithful reader for the last several months, but today is the first time i had to comment to say thank you--thanks for making me laugh out loud at the "i think she misunderstood me..." bit today. i needed to start my day with a laugh!

Yep, got one exactly like that too. But you forgot the part where she kicks you in the stomache while changing the diaper... Don't even get me started on finishing a meal, combing her hair or get both her and me ready for daycare and work... But by a flip of a button she turns into sunshine, hugs, kisses, cuddles and become the most wonderful child the world has ever seen. Oh yes, they are indeed two years old - and we are going on a hundred... Take care!

OMG - I think you just described my own daughter, aged 2 yrs 8 months - I don't remember any of her three brothers doing this, but as you say, maybe we just block things! My daughter can carry on just this way,about something so NOT important, then suddenly switch - unless it's her loving adoring dad who is on the receiving end, and then she just ain't gonnna stop unless she gets her Mummy, cos Daddy is obvious a monster come to get her!Jac

This sort of mega tantrum seems to happen at least once a day in my house too. My 4 year old NEVER did this, but my 2 year old.... well, he's quite stubborn. It's like he has a switch that he flips and just does a 100% turn around from happy to EXTREMELY angry in about 2 seconds. My favorite thing is when he's happily eating in his booster chair and then all of a sudden decides he doesn't want what he has (though he doesn't get another choice) and decides to launch whatever it is across the kitchen and proceeds to scream that he doesn't want it.

LOL! Not possessed Dawn, just a head-strong little toddler, that's all. My girl, who is now 4, was able to pitch a temper fit with the best of them. We would do one of two things with her...either tell her, "Mommy and Daddy don't have time for this, so we are walking away," followed by leaving her sans audience, like you did with Brooklyn, or by telling her, "I don't see you moving your arms and your legs...and you aren't screaming as loud as you can, are you? You need to be a little louder, please."

Usually by this point she is looking at us like we each have 3 heads and has given up. Of course, it didn't always work, but it made us feel a little better and helped keep us laughing through those times.

I love the two pictures of Brooklyn as well, it is so funny how their little emotions can turn on a dime like that.

OMG!! The same thing with my 2 1/2 yr old. THis weekend we were visiting a friends house and my daughter kept going thier bedroom and closing the door. I went back there and told her if she couldn't follow the rules we were going to go to time out. Well that started the hour and a half screaming fit. She nearly threw up after making herself gag a few times while screaming. I think I scared this poor couple away from EVER having kids....I'm mean seriously who screams for nearly 2 hours because they couldn't close a door. Not long before this fit took place she was curled up on my lap saying I love you Mommy, your my best friend.

Hey Dawn,Welcome to my life! My son acts like that - but I don't get the hugs (he hates to be touched or touch anyone else). And yes, he has been tested - and is getting help via IEP at school - but still no diagnosis. I asked the doctor last week on a follow-up and he said - if I had a diagnosis I would give you one! I find that it works best when I send him to his room (isolate him) when he tantrums. Then eventually he calms and comes back to join us. It is so hard to understand what clicks their buttons to cause the rage. Last night it was because he wanted more food on his plate, and his plate was FULL and I asked him to eat what was on his plate before he received more. Sometimes it just happens when I ask him to put on his socks. You'd think I was asking him to puke or something! EWWWW!

I just love that you are so honest and tell it how it is - I so relate to your experiences!

"Sometimes we forget that children have just arrived on the earth. They are a little like aliens, coming into beings as bundles of energy and pure potential, here on some exploratory mission and they are just trying to learn what it means to be human." ~The Martian Child, Film (2007)

So funny that you had this post today. My son is 2 1/2, and hasn't been a bad 2 year old until this past weekend. When did the switch flip that he became a demon child? After this exhausting weekend, I thought, "I'm definitely not having another child!", and then I thought about you having six and it just reaffirmed my opinion that God must pick those special people who are meant to have more than one child! As my friend said the other day (she has one child, a daughter), "People always ask me if we're going to have another child, and wouldn't I love to have another cute, little baby. And I tell them, Sure! but do you want another 2 year old?":-)

sounds completely normal to me... I used to have to sit in the floor and pin the kids legs beneith mine and work rapid style and on rare occasion I gave up and put the diaper on backwards... of course this wa sin the day of unisex and front and back were not so different diapers LOL...What a cutie she is!HUGS

Oh, those were the days....they were especially memorable when we were out and about, with lots of people around! I could see in the faces of others, "Oh, what a horrible mother she is...to allow that kind of behavior", or "no child of mine would ever act like that!" You nailed it when you said "no longer an audience." It works almost every time. And yes, it does seem like they are possessed at times. But once you get passed the syrup, or vinegar, as the case may be, they do come back...until the next wave!

I am impressed! You kept your cool and didn't kill her. ;) LOL!! No, I don't think you would have killed her. But I would have smacked her bottom once or twice. (And I am still impressed that you didn't!) Anyway, I have seen that switch thrown on my own kids. It is like they want to know that you are going to stick to your guns and not change your mind. Once they have gone thru that experience/test (just one more time) and figure out that you mean what you say, they are suddenly fine with it. I am always thinking, "Why didn't you get it the last hundred times that I mean what I say?!?!?"

I have no idea what that's like. Nope, none. No clue. My 2 year old never, ever, ever flips over a million times when I try to change him, or freaks out at the very thought of a clean diaper. Nope, never happens.

When I was young, I was throwing a fit over a video or something and my mom had completely had it. She finally just started imitating my fit and I started laughing. Oh to be two again! It's too bad our more recent fights don't resolve themselves quite as nicely.

OMG Dawn, I could've written that post and substituted my daughter's name!!! :-D (Ok, I couldn't have written the post - you have such an awesome fun way of writing - but you get my drift. the "must have misheard me" line about the ankles is something I could never have come up with, but it totally cracked me up!)Seriously, the diaper change, the flipping, the pjs, the screaming, the full body tantrums - I go through the same thing every day! AND I get the angel pie side too. :-) You know, when she's TOO CUTE for words and so loving and sweet and acting like the perfect child. It's a good thing she knows how to be so cute!

HA! I have an almost 26 month old and she has her moments as well and I just walk away. A lot of times she'll get so mad/upset she'll run into her room and bury her face in her blanket and scream and cry for awhile! Then she'll come up to me and say "sorry, mommy" in her cute, adorable voice and I tell her I forgive her and we're back to normal! (whatever normal is, right?!?!?) I think, too, that when they are the youngest of a large family (we have 5 children) they learn SO much from the older children and they are so much smarter, or so it seems :-p

Oh, Dawn and all you other mommys, I know you don't want to hear it, but the word is patience. Eeek! Go away old woman, what do you know?

I had one (middle) whose personality, not just a time span, was similar. His was not tantrums as much as crying over every little thing (fill a bucket with his tears). The arm sleeve on his sweater had to be perfectly straight. Each item of food on his plate could not touch. He would sit at the table and quietly let the tears roll down his cheeks until the problem was corrected. He might have kept me from having more children because of being like these you're describing, had he been the first one. I haven't thought about the things that set him off in a long time. It might be an enjoyable thing to do one day. Huh? He was a chubby-faced little guy, not over-weight, and ended up with the nickname of Teddy Bear. I could go on, but I will skip to my point. I lost this difficult child at age 16, killed in an alcohol related automobile accident. Who cared how he had behaved during the early years of his life then. By that time, he had grown into a very nice young man, all that early childhood behavior long gone. Yours will, too, one day. ;-)

When I was in my 50s I raised my adopted granddaughter who had Reactive Attachment Disorder. That taught me much about behavior challenged children, and it ties right in with Dawn's Judge Not post the other day. You just Never know where someone is coming from!!!

Enjoy your children. A., with the RAD changed my heart in my 50s. She is making a beautiful mommy now, knowing what her baby needs from his mommy. It made my heart bigger for all other children, and especially yours for any of their actions in the grocery store. It's not being lax. It is loving. Just figure out the balance.

Ugh. I have a 19-month-old who does the same thing at diaper time. He screams and screams, but moreso with Daddy. I guess Mama's okay for the poop patrol, but there are some days when he does the same with me. He doesn't mind jammies, but having a shirt put on and pulled off is apparently a fate worse than death. It elicits tears and shrill screams 99% of the time - I actually took him to the doctor to have his ears checked at one point because I thought perhaps it was hurting his ears to have all of this torture done to him, but nope - just a typical toddler tantrum. Now that we've added a newborn sister to the mix the tantrums have subsided a bit, but there have been quite a few things hurled at her head in the absence of the change-table tantrums. I guess I'll take what I can get.

Hah! My dear little 23 month old daughter sounds a bit like Brooklyn. We have a shirt for her that reads "Just be glad I'm not a Twin!" and we are!

We often say its a good thing we had her brothers first because if this little devil spawn had been our first born she also would have been our LAST born! My husband says she is just getting in touch with her inner demoness. It's a good thing you can't sell toddlers on Ebay or there would be a whole huge section of them. Sell, heck there are days I would be happy to just give her away.

But I do comfort myself and say, "Well she is going to grow up to be a strong independant woman who knows how to say no and won't take no for an answer!" It's just going to be h e l l to raise her.

Your comment about the first five kids, reminded me of my sister. She always said that if her kids were spaced farther apart, there wouldn't have been a second one (they are fifteen months apart). Her daughter had the demanding, determined personality, her son is easy going and could play independently for hours.

That is too funny...although I'm sure it wasn't at the time....Let me ask you this, does blogging take the place of the therapy one would need after raising children? LOL....at least you can look back and make light of it later, huh?

For a few months when my babies were small, we used cloth diapers. Imagine doing the same wrestling match with a big diaper pin! I don't remember any blood spilt but I sure remember being worried about it. Thanks for the chuckle and the memories.

I'm sure you already know all the diapering tricks since you have six kids, but here are a few just in case you hadn't thought of them.

If you child rolls over keep a hand on the back of the diaper against her body so that it stays in place and diaper her upside-down. This works well since most diapers now have Velcro-like tabs instead of tapes.

Change your child with her standing up. If the diaper is dirty use the front of the diaper to wipe front to back. Then have her put her hands on the floor so you can clean out the hard to reach areas. (My kids loved this and I rarely had trouble changing them when they were toddlers. You know the whole looking through the legs thing?) You can even get your child to help hold the diaper in place while you adjust the tabs.

When putting the fresh diaper on, fasten the tabs of the diaper before putting it on your child. If you leave it a little loose, then you can help her pull it on like a Pull-up. Finish by adjusting the tabs to prevent leaks.

Sounds like my 14 month old Lizzie. We thought that my older son (who is 3) was a strong willed child, then we had Lizzie. I went out and bought the book "Strong-Willed Child" by James Dobson. It is Lizzie to a tee. I can't wait till she hits 3 ;) Our Ped. told us when our son turned 3 and we started having problems with him that whoever came up with the term terrible twos never let their children live to the age of 3. 3 is the new 2. Lizzie at 3 should be lots of fun.

BIG SIGH!!!!! Am I ever glad that I am n ot the only one who has regularly fought this battle!! My son will be 4 in 10 days and is still throwing major "hissy fits"! They are becoming fewer but are still very tiring. I'm convinced he was born pissed off and will most likely stay that way. He is the last of 3 and the only boy....is that a good excuse for having Lucifer in my home??Thanks for the chuckle and I send my understanding and sympathy!

Thank you for showing me that I am not alone!! My almost-3-yr old is the exact same way about everything! If we suggest anything she flies off the handle. If she asks for something and we say YES she finds something to scream about. She really does make herself throw up, she cries so hard. Thankfully that's only happened a couple times... on grandma's watch! (I also don't do vommit...) What causes this behavior? We don't have a disruptive home environment or anything I can think of in her "world" that would trigger this... But it happens, sometimes for days at a time, then she'll come back down to earth for a day or a week, just long enough to lull us into complacency before the next storm. My husband is the only one who can get through to her when she gets in a mood, and even he is not always successful. What do you do when Brooklyn throws a never-ending tantrum?

I was at a conference in Kansas City last weekend, standing in an elevator with a woman who I could SWEAR was you. I don't think she was--your blog hasn't mentioned anything about a trip to KC--but the resemblance was uncanny!!

Levi had his sippy cup and his sunglasses as a toddler. Pretty much every photo he has at least the sippy cup, tucked under his arm in a very familiar way.

Funny, he is eight and pulled a "Brooklyn" today at daycare when another kid took a toy from him. *sigh*

She's not possessed....she's just female (and I'm female so I can get away with saying that!)

I agree with you on the jammies thing. I told Levi the other night "I wish I had someone to make me brush my teeth, put on my jammies and make me go to bed. Oh, and rub my feet (he has eczema on his toes so every night I rub in Eucerin cream and put on clean socks).

Of course, we used to have someone tell us to brush our teeth, put on our jammies and go to bed and we didn't like it then. Silly kids.

I am the youngest of 8 kids; no, that's not a typo I said 8. Yes, my family is Irish Catholic.

Anywho.....my mom incorporated a little technique referred to as the "Tantrum Pillow". As in "I don't really care to hear your tantrum....take it somewhere else." At which time we would take a pillow (usually from the couch) and pitch a holy-hellfire fit somewhere other than where the human beings were.

Now as the youngest (I'm now 36) I don't remember everyone's tantrums. However, my siblings recall this with hilarity and marvel it's effectiveness.

That being said....every one of them have tried to use this trick with their kids (I have 16 nieces and nephews) and not one can do it.

I can attest I have seen my mom do this with one of my nieces without batting an eye or raising her voice and my sweet little demonically possessed niece would grab "her" pillow off the couch, go into another room and throw herself on the floor (after calmly closing the door mind you).

Hi Dawn,I was thinking of you this morning! Brooklyn and my son are about the same age. Many friends who have kids my son's age either have new babies, are about to deliver, or are newly pregnant again. They keep asking when I'm having another one. I tell them that we're trying, but that we haven't been so blessed yet, that these things take time and are in God's hands, and thank you very much for asking and reminding me how we've failed to conceive again. We're still breastfeeding and cosleeping, so I wonder if that's impacting our ability. Then I thought of you - 1) You haven't (apparently) struggled with lack of fertility and 2) Aren't you soon due for another yourself?Thanks,Holly

And then, eventually, they turn 14. And oh, the screaming! The crying! The moaning and tearing out of hair!

And that's just the Mom!

LOL

Good luck to you. It sounds like your solution of walking away and not giving her an audience is a good one. Of course, when you're in the midst of changing her diaper, you can't just walk away. LOL

What I used to do when my 2-1/2 yr. old did that, was I would just totally ignore the behavior. I wouldn't react to it in any way and did not give him any response, positive or negative, to the behavior. If he was doing that while I was changing his diaper, I would just put on my best poker face, ignore the screaming and crying, and act like I couldn't hear anything. Every time he flipped, I'd flip him back and continue diapering, without saying a word, without reacting in any way. It totally would take the wind out of his sails, and he'd settle down. End each time I was successful at not reacting to it, the tantrums got shorter and shorter until they faded away. I don't know if that would help you at all, but it sure worked for me.

My little girl was the same way for so long...still is once in a while...we called her MS. BIPOLAR...but what worked for us is telling her that it was okay to cry but to go in her room and shut the door!

For a minute, I thought you were describing what happend at my house tonight. My almost 3 year old threw herself on the floor because her cookie was "broken" when I gave it to her. This went on for about 10 minutes.

Eventually, I threw myself on the floor and started having my own tantrum. She immediately stopped hers, came over to me, started rubbing my back, saying "don't cry Mommy, it's OK, don't cry"

I've never posted a comment though I read your blog all the time. I just can't believe that it took you six kids to get one like Brooklyn. What the heck? I have two daughters, 3 and 4. And what you described is par for the course here! Other people's children will never cease to amaze me! (Do you think if I have 6, I can get just one like your others??!)

I had almost the same exact thing happen tonight. My son decided to dump his sisters box of crayons all out onto the floor. I told him to pick them up. You would have thought I told him to put his hand in a pot of boiling water. After about an hour of screaming (I thought he would throw up too) he never did pick up more than 6 crayons...but he is sound asleep in a big pile of them *L*

At least you can still physically restrain her. My going through a growth spurt and currently 5'8" with a size 12 1/2 shoe 15 yos threw himself on the floor in a fit the other morning because it was 10 am and we were trying to get him to get up... He was screaming, "It's summer! Why won't you let me sleep?!?!?" Did I mention his voice is changing?

He is definitely possessed. By raging hormones. A couple of weeks ago he got a zit. That was fun... Give me a fit throwing toddler any day!!!

Oh! I just "love" toddlers! It is my least favorite age (well, aside from 13 year old girls, apparently. UGH) But, I digress...I have had more kids than I can count cry til they puke. What is that??? Esp. since it's over something so darn silly!Oh! And the hat! LMAO! My son Alex was just like that for about 2 years straight! It was a black cowboy hat and all my relatives took to calling him "Garth". LOL He even wore the darn hat when he was a ring bearer in my brother's wedding. LOL

My middle son, the strong-willed one, is now 22, the one who spit in my face when he ws a toddler and I was trying to brush his teeth.

He was spanked that day. Some misbehavior came from frustration, tiredness, or hunger, but some was plain defiance, and we did spank for defiance. Maybe not at 2, but later. That was a "Strong Willed Child" by James Dobson approach.

As he grew I would talk to him, now and again, about how stubbornness can be both a great fault and a great strength, depending on how you use it. If you are not a quitter, determined to finish what you need to do no matter what the obstacles, you can go far in life. If your stubbornness causes you to never listen to others and always want your own way, you may not be able to fit into the world very well. He got it from me! And I've mostly found determination to be one of my great strengths.

Your comment about putting on your jammies reminded me of this conversation with my 13 year old son last night. Since summer break started I have been going to bed before him. Do you remember the days when the object was to go to bed as late as possible? Anyway, he said to me, "You're an adult, you can go to bed whenever you want!" "Yes, you're absolutely right honey....goodnight."

As for the sandwich recipes, my Mom tells me all the time about how her Mom (my Dad's, too) used to eat the baked bean sandwiches, but they just opened a can and put it on white bread. It actually is pretty good. Can't imagine it with pickles or whatever else tho.

Love the recipes! I've got a 4 year old granddaughter who sometimes throws tantrums too..(come to think of it, her father did too at that age). I tickle her. The more she screams, the more I tickle her and laugh at her. It's become known as "Grandpa's revenge". Now every time she misbehaves, my daughter-in-law asks her if she wants "Grandpa's Revenge". It's an exceptionally bad tantrum that proceeds after that threat! And the best part is she still thinks Grandpa is great. She just doesn't throw tantrums for me anymore;-)

I'm so done with tantrums that when my kids start melting, I pick them up and put them in the room off our kitchen and close the door. (it's the coat closet...I'm kidding! It's actually their play room) No audience to add drama to the situation. They know they can't come out until they're done crying and even my 20 month old now comes out blotchy-faced saying, "All done, Mommy," - often even smiling. Kids!

Sometimes we all need a good cry and they're allowed to be sad and have feelings...I just don't need to hear it. :)

I've been out of town and I thought I was having withdrawl symptoms after 5 days of not reading your blog!! So, I'm home and i enjoyed reading all the wonderful entries I missed.

I must comment on the "fit-throwing Brooklyn". My oldest daughter, who is now 11, was our "fit-baby". It was such a shock to us because her older brother was just so calm and relatively uncomplicated. (Thankfully, the other 4 are fit-free!) I think that you hit the mother load when you recognized that Brooklyn was seeking an audience. My daughter was like that and many times just putting her in a room by herself got her to stop. I will say that she does have a bit of a temper and over the years we have worked really, really hard on teaching her how to handle her emotions without anger. It's great that you are a student of you kids.

You mentioned that Austin also threw a few fits when he was younger. Just curious....When did Austin outgrow the fits? What did you do to handle him during that trying time? Are the rest of your kids fairly calm?

Hey, I noticed that you call PJ's (pajama's), jammies. Is that a Chicago thing? I'd love to hear all the unique words that are heard in Chicago. I'll give you a whole list of Texas-isms.

OMG! How old is Brooklyn again? My "angel" (NOT!) is going to be 2 next week and I could have written this post. Scary stuff how crazy toddlers are. Man... It's a wonder I'm not a raging alocholic! :-)

Oh, those before and after pics are so funny! A lot of times when my 2 yr old turns into demon spawn, she ends up sick in the next 24 hours. The 6 yr old, definitely. But that is less and less frequently the case with the 2 yr old...

Okay the before/after pics are too funny! I have a tantrum pic of Hailey somewhere. I haven't taken many, because I try to block it as best I can. LOL Sort of like Brandon and colic...ack. But yeah, judging from the overwhelming response, I think you just described 108 other kids! 109 including Hailey (my 3 year old).

Dawn- my daughter is 22 months and she is the same way. We recently rented the DVD Happiest Toddler on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp and we were really impressed... I ordered the book but as if I had time to read... it sits on my nightstand. We are starting to try this method with her, it takes a little getting used to, but so far, it is like a miracle... it completely difuses the situation... pre-puking! :) Good luck! I love your blog!

I am a fan, though not a die-hard one. (Sometimes a skip a week or so) And I have never commented before. But this post had me honestly laughing out loud! It totally made my day because, you see, my DD of 13 months has the same flipping behavior on the changing table, so I know what you mean. :) Keep up the good work.

Not that you don't get enough comments already, but I just had to say thank you. I think your Brook and my Ainsley are the same devilish soul in 2 different bodies. Ahhh! I'm just glad I'm not the only one who's daughter becomes a lunitic for no reason and then can turn the switch off whenever THEY want to. Only a few more years... right?